Envoy: Informal settlers cleared not to 'hide poverty'

MANILA, Philippines — Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., chief of the organizing committee for the Asia-Pacific Economic Council, on Friday clarified that informal settlers along main roads were cleared for security reasons and not to "hide poverty."

"The reason that we remove our informal settlers along the main routes is really for security reasons. In security, we do everything we can. That is also the reason that we do not allow parking along these routes," Paynor said in an interview with ANC's Headstart.

The ambassador said that the public should not make an issue of having to remove informal settlers along APEC lanes.

Paynor added that the Department of Social Welfare and Development would be more sensitive in handling the situation after the incident prior to the visit of Pope Francis in the country in January.

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"I think it's being addressed properly," the ambassador said.

The ambassador revealed that majority of the P9.5-billion budget for the APEC hosting was allotted for security preparations.

Paynor admitted that security processes for the APEC summit were harder than preparations for Pope Francis's visit as there was no real threat on the Roman pontiff.

"In this particular case, there is not much of an interest on the leaders except a few, among them the Canadian Prime Minister (Justin Trudeau), but on the whole, it is the country's responsibility individually and collectively to ensure that all these guests... come here and do their job and leave safe," Paynor said.

The ambassador earlier assured that President Benigno Aquino III is on top of the situation as the country awaits the arrival of leaders for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting next week.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indonesian President Joko Widodo will not attend the summit.

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